Hazardous travel conditions and a notable drop in temperatures prompted road advisories from some sheriffs Tuesday.

Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories were in effect through Tuesday morning for much of the state. The National Weather Service said several inches of accumulated snow and reduced visibility could hinder morning travel.

Wind chills in the single digits were reported in some areas Monday as temperatures dropped into the teens from weekend temperatures in the 50s. Temperatures are expected to drop into single digits later this week, with wind chills below zero in parts of the state.

A note written on a balloon released into the sky. We’ve all had the urge to, or actually released a balloon into the atmosphere with the hopes that someone in a far away land would discover the balloon, the note and contact you.

A test of curiosity. A social experiment. A bit of luck. That’s what it takes for a balloon to leave the surface and to be found in another land.

ForÂ Eric Walton of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Ohio State and his family, this experiment became a reality. And Walton took it a step further he attached a camera to the end of the balloon.

The video shows the camera lifting off in Upper Arlington, flying over the Ohio State Golf Course, and then flying over Highway 315. We know the video is shaky, it was filmed with a camera tied to a balloon. We know it’s kind of dark in the video, and we know it says it was in August. (It wasn’t in August, this was in December 2013)

Well, hundreds if miles away, someone found the balloon and camera and sent it back.

At the Lane Avenue – 315 interchange, drivers on this stretch of highway likely have already noticed some changes made by the Ohio Department of Transportation.

“New guardrails going in, the median barrier – the wall down the center of the highway – we’re raising that in a number of spots,” Hedge said.

Brian Hedge is an ODOT spokesperson. ODOT is working on redoing the stretch of highway between highway 670 and North Broadway. Over the summer crews worked on northbound lanes.

Hedge said the improvements, some of them for driver safety, were not done because the highway was unsafe, but because better equipment is available.

“New lighting through the stretch – new and improved lighting, newer technology. And new signs, that’s another big one,” he said.

Hedge said the new signs will be more reflective and require less lighting.

“You might have seen them before where you have to shine a light up on them to see them. They’re using, actually, it’s called a high-intensity sign. They’re very reflective and you don’t have to shine a light on them, so you just see them. Your headlights illuminate them to see the sign,” Hedge said.

ODOT also has redone bridge decks, fixed potholes and resurfaced much of the highway while adding new lines and reflectors. As far as improvements drivers may not necessarily notice…

“There was some minor drainage work to make sure that, that runs clear and keeps the highway free of water,” Hedge said.

]]>With football season around the corner, OSU officials say fans should allow for longer travel times going to and from home games. OSU Transportation and Parking Services Director Sarah Blouch says she expects typical delays into the stadium — but leaving the stadium will probably take longer.

“Outbound is really the one that will impact with the majority of delays. We estimate about double the time for people to leave campus over what we’ve normally been able to do,” says Blouch.

OSU Chief of Police Paul Denton says officers will be directing traffic after the game according to where people park:

“If you park south of the stadium, the expectation will be that you will be directed south, if it’s north of the stadium you’re going to be directed north. So if that’s you’re intended direction when you leave the game, that’s where we would suggest that you park,” says Denton.

315 will be restricted to two lanes in both directions. All exits on 315 southbound will remain open, but going northbound near campus, only the Lane Avenue exit will be open.

]]>http://wosu.org/2012/news/2009/08/27/osu-officials-warn-of-game-day-traffic-delays/feed/0315,footballMost buckeye football fans expect long game-day commutes to and from the Horseshoe. But this season, Ohio State officials say local highway construction will cause even longer delays.Most buckeye football fans expect long game-day commutes to and from the Horseshoe. But this season, Ohio State officials say local highway construction will cause even longer delays.WOSU Newsno1:03Two-Year Construction Project On Route 315 In Columbus Begins on Monday, June 15thhttp://wosu.org/2012/news/2009/06/14/two-year-construction-project-on-route-315-in-columbus-begins-on-monday-june-15th/
http://wosu.org/2012/news/2009/06/14/two-year-construction-project-on-route-315-in-columbus-begins-on-monday-june-15th/#commentsSun, 14 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000Kim Foxhttp://wosu.org/2012/news/2009/06/14/two-year-construction-project-on-route-315-in-columbus-begins-on-monday-june-15th/Construction on Route 315 in Columbus is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 15, 2009.

]]>Construction on Route 315 in Columbus is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 15, 2009. The highway is usually a convenient way to get to Ohio State University. It’s also a connector to many suburbs like Upper Arlington. WOSU’s Kim Fox spoke with Ohio Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Hedge and asked him what kind of construction work is being done on Route 315.

]]>http://wosu.org/2012/news/2009/06/14/two-year-construction-project-on-route-315-in-columbus-begins-on-monday-june-15th/feed/0315,construction,highway,road,route,workConstruction on Route 315 in Columbus is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 15, 2009.Construction on Route 315 in Columbus is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 15, 2009.WOSU Newsno3:12Route 315 Next Silcon Valley?http://wosu.org/2012/news/2006/05/15/route-315-next-silcon-valley/
http://wosu.org/2012/news/2006/05/15/route-315-next-silcon-valley/#commentsMon, 15 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000Sam Hendrenhttp://wosu.org/2012/news/2006/05/15/route-315-next-silcon-valley/

Columbus city, business and academic leaders hope to turn part of the city into a major center for research and technology. The leaders propose to create the Route 315 Research and Technology Corridor.

Columbus could be a major center for scientific research and technology – if a plan to create technology corridor is successful. Columbus city council president Matt Habash says a 315 Research and Technology Corridor is vital to the region’s future, but it means a different approach to economic development.

The proposed 315 Research and Technology Corridor begins at Riverside Hospital and stretches south along State Route 315 to COSI. In those 10,000 acres, 50,000 people are employed and $1 billion worth of research is done annually. But until now, according to Columbus City council president Matt Habash, local leaders did not fully comprehend the available resources.

“Let’s tell ourselves what we have -we’ve got to market that to ourselves – we don’t know what’s there,” says Habash. “You know I often tease the university that they’ve got 18 different deans doing things and sometimes bureaucracies like cities and universities, they don’t communicate very well.”

The corridor’s resources have been pinpointed on a new map. They include Ohio State University, Battelle, Columbus Children’s Hospital, Chemical Abstracts, Edison Welding Institute and the SciTech Center. Habash says it’s more realistic for the governments of Columbus, Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, and Clinton Township to help nurture and develop businesses that began in central Ohio than to try to attract new ones.

“These start-up companies that are coming out of Ohio State and Battelle; they go from an idea to what could be a business. But when they need to go to the next level, we’re not ready for that,” says Habash.

Specific details have yet to be worked out, but a diverse group of community leaders spoke in support of the plan at a public forum late Monday afternoon.

Officials say southbound travel on State Route 315 should return to normal Wednesday morning with the reopening of the bridge over Ackerman Road. The Ohio Department of Transportation began repairs after chunks of concrete fell from the bridge last week.

Officials say southbound travel on State Route 315 should return to normal Wednesday morning with the reopening of the bridge over Ackerman Road. The Ohio Department of Transportation began repairs after chunks of concrete fell from the bridge last week. An ODOT spokesman says rerouting traffic helped complete the job ahead of schedule.

ODOT had originally planned only to close certain lanes of the bridge while it repaired a large pothole that appeared May 3rd. But later the entire bridge was closed with southbound 315 traffic funneled through the exit and entrance ramps. ODOT spokesman Todd Sloan says the detour meant repair crews were able to work uninterrupted.

“By getting traffic off of the bridge for the entire time,” Sloan says, “our crews were able to move quickly and we actually anticipate opening up all three lanes of State Route 315 in time for the morning rush on Wednesday.”

ODOT had inspected the bridge in March and had notified the city that it would need to be resurfaced. Then on the morning of May 3rd a 2-foot wide hole appeared as chunks of concrete fell onto Ackerman Road. The city’s assistant public safety director Mary Webster says an inspection could not have predicted the pothole.

“No one could have found this problem sooner,” Webster says. “What started out as a small pothole became a deeper pothole until you could see through it. You could have inspected the road two days ahead of time and you wouldn’t have known this was going to happen. I liken it to a sinkhole. One day it’s not there. The next day it is. It’s just something that happens.”

The city’s Mary Webster and ODOT’s Todd Sloan say the integrity of the bridge and the safety of the public were never compromised. Both say the pothole could be the result of a number of factors.

“The materials that you put on the road are susceptible to weather; freezing, thawing,” says assistant safety director Mary Webster. “They’re susceptible to the chemicals you put on them – the brine that you put on them, to pre-treat before snow. Maybe salt, wear and tear – age; all kinds of factors. There’s no way to tell what one or two or three factors caused this – it’s probably a combination of all of them. There was no way to tell ahead of time this was going to happen. It just happened.”

The cost of repairing the 34-year-old bridge is now an estimated $600,000. It reopens May 10th at 5 a.m., though the southbound exit and entrance ramps won’t reopen until later in the day. State Route 315 carries about 117,000 vehicles on an average day.